


Stealer

by cottoncandyboys (mik0rin)



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Office, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-25
Updated: 2018-01-25
Packaged: 2019-03-09 10:13:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13479297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mik0rin/pseuds/cottoncandyboys
Summary: Someone's been stealing Yuta's food (and maybe his heart) and he's not happy about it.





	Stealer

**Author's Note:**

> i was suddenly craving yuchan and there is absolutely nothing in the tag (since it doesn't even eXIST) and i feel obliged to write this, i hope it is alright, inspired by this [prompt](http://dailyau.tumblr.com/post/169737784510)
> 
> i hope you decide to ship it after reading this, please love them with me hbjdsnfjisdfjf i promise i'll write more
> 
> i suck at coming up with titles and this is the only thing i could think of rip (i actually thought of ksy's [song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orPDXm41C3M) even though the lyrics are not related lmao)
> 
> also, unbetaed bcz i'm a lazy piece of shit

The working schedule starts at eight. Yuta leaves his apartment at half past seven and arrives in the office at exactly eight to seven since he lives mere blocks from it.

Nakamoto Yuta works at the customer service, which can be considered alright since it's always the same thing - with people complaining that something is not working well with the software and alikes - or it can be a real pain in the ass - with Yuta being on the phone with the same person for over an hour. Aside from that, his working goes smoothly, Yuta even has time to chat with some of his colleagues during his short breaks to get a drink - usually Youngho or Yoonoh - while he also observes the cute new intern that's been working in the copy room for about half a week and runs around the whole place delivering documents - and sometimes coffee (mostly coffee).

Since the floor he works at is shared in among the software development and the advocacy office, it's common to see lawyers talking to some of the more extroverted IT nerds - which is Yuta's case by the way, not that he actually fits in the specifics of the stereotyped nerd since he doesn't go to work wearing a Star Wars shirt like Youngho does from time to time.

"We have a lot of cases to sort through today," Yoonoh complains with an oddly placed smile, not sounding like it is something that requires much effort. Yuta sighs a little because he adores talking to him but it's usually the same thing over and over again because their lives are somehow boring when it comes to work. "God, I just wish they'd fix the coffee machine, this is awful," Yoonoh frowns when he finishes what he has on his mug and eyes the thermos bottle that's their impromptu source of caffeine - Sicheng's courtesy, even though his coffee is terrible.

"It does suck a lot," Yuta agrees, making a face as he remembers how it tasted as though Sicheng just poured the coffee powder in the hot water and mixed it. Right at that moment, Sicheng pokes him on the back and Yuta jumps in surprise, looking rather apologetic. "I mean, hmm, it tastes good."

"You don't have to lie," Sicheng says, even smiling. "I know it sucks, I don't even know what I'm doing but everybody's been complaining that there's no coffee so I do whatever in hopes that you will all shut up."

And he leaves Yuta and Yoonoh like that, not even sparing a glance. It's even worth placing a hand on his chest, to show outrage at how the always mild Dong Sicheng spoke like that.

"He's so funny," Yoonoh shakes his head and heads back to his office, bidding goodbye to Yuta with a nod. Yuta checks the clock and sees that he still has ten minutes to spare, deciding then to put one of his morning goals into action: getting the new intern's name and maybe talk a little to him.

So Yuta drags his feet across the whole floor until he's standing in front of the half opened door with the copper colored plaque that reads 'copy room'. He lightly knocks on it, proceeding to shove his hands on the pockets of his jeans.

"The door is opened," says a voice, probably the intern, and Yuta rolls his eyes.

"Well, that's quite obvious," Yuta says and pushes it fully opened. "I was just trying to be courteous."

It's quite a sight, really. The new intern has some ink on his left cheek and clothes and there are some shredded pieces of paper on the floor too. It looks like a battle happened in the room not too long ago.

"Well, I see work has been going very well. I think I should come over some other time," Yuta turns to leave and the boy jumps in front of him and blocks the door.

"Help," he says with a desperate face. "I don't know what happened. The copy machine just vomited ink on me an hour ago, the fan lost control and spread the strips of useless paper around so I turned it off."

"Well, this room feels like a sauna too," Yuta points out, not being helpful at all as he notices that the poor boy is sweating a lot. "I know I work for the IT but I don't know how to make these things work. You should ask Sicheng, he worked here before being transferred to the front desk," Yuta stares at the boy who has his brows furrowed as he stares down at all the trash. "I feel sorry when they put the Business Administration or Law majors to work here instead of giving them something better."

"I'm not a Business Administration or Law student though," he says and rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. For a moment, Yuta's a little confused because why would he even be here on the first place then?

"So why…?" he tries to make the boy answer and gets a nervous laugh in return.

"I major in Psychology, you see," he starts and trails off a little. The silence is just a little unnerving and, before Yuta can excuse himself - even though he didn't catch the boy's name yet -, the younger one clears his throat. "I just kind of needed a job and they offered an internship to anyone who was in college so I took it. I didn't think it'd be so boring and also complicated."

Yuta's reply is a hum, understanding the need for a job but not quite understanding why he would take one in an area that's not close to what he's graduating.

"Sorry, I can't help much unless you're having trouble with a software or a computer," Yuta says after a gap filled with nothing but silence. "My break will be over soon, so I'll be back later to print the things I need to print," _which is actually nothing at all_ , Yuta thinks and already plans on writing some rubbish on a document so he'll not come back with empty hands and show that he's somehow interested in striking conversation with the copy room boy.

The boy just nods and stares down at the mess, slowly trying to put things back to place - at least that's what Yuta assumes. He is already at the door when he hears shuffling coming from behind himself and turns to take a look at what the boy's doing.

"I'm Lee Donghyuck, by the way," he says as he dumps the papers he has in his arms down on the metal trash bin, brushing his hands together to get rid of whatever stuck to the palm of his hands. "It's uh, nice to meet you," he stares expectantly at Yuta, like he's waiting for something.

"Oh," he says dumbly when Donghyuck is still looking at him and he's just standing in front of the door. "Nakamoto Yuta, I work at the other side of the floor by the windows, if you need help with something that does not include printers and copying machines, you can call me."

He leaves the room like that, sweating nervously when he sees Donghyuck waving at him. If that's considered flirting, Yuta sure is awful at it - but at least he got the boy's name.

 

 

 

 

By the time the clock hits noon, Yuta is starving and it feels like he didn't even eat the toast with butter before leaving home in the morning. Youngho follows him into the shared kitchen that's right next to the copy room and Yuta makes his way to the refrigerator in glee, already anticipating his lunch.

"Ohhh that's some fancy shit you got right there," Youngho says as he unwraps his natural sandwich with a mournful expression on his face. "Seungwan is still going on the healthy craze and she won't let me eat my hamburgers and fries."

"Meanwhile, Taeyong just recently graduated from that culinary school I mentioned and he has been trying out different dishes every day because he wants to open a restaurant with his savings, so he packs the dinner leftovers for me," Yuta says teasingly as he shoves a spoonful of the braised chicken along with some rice, Youngho looks just plain _jealous_.

Their meal is eaten in silence,Youngho eats extra slowly so _it seems like it's more than it really is_ , Yuta just laughs pitifully at him but doesn't offer his food because, well, it's _his_ food.

"Next time," Youngho says when Yuta and him are already exiting the kitchen. "You could, you know, be more charitable and offer some to me because I think I'm going to die if Seungwan keeps this thing going."

"I'll see if Taeyong can make a second lunchbox. He cooks for like, five people when there are only two of us living in the apartment," Yuta says and he sneaks a peek inside the copy room, seeing that Donghyuck is actually looking like he has control of what he's doing.

"Yuta?" Youngho calls and he turns his attention back to his friend. "Why did you stop walking?" Youngho goes back to where Yuta is standing and takes a glance at the same direction as him. " _I see_."

"You see nothing," Yuta walks away and Youngho has to rush his steps to catch up with him even though he has long legs. "I was just wondering if things were going well there because I passed by earlier and it was a complete _mess_."

"Sure," Youngho sounds way too pretentious to his own liking but Yuta ignores it, opting to sit down at his desk and fill out the forms with the information of all the calls he had to answer earlier. 

 

 

 

 

Since Yuta's job is nothing too laborial, he never has to do overtime, ever. Youngho on the other hand, stays as much as he can - usually until seven while everyone else leaves at five - because he knows Seungwan will end up convincing him on watching a movie or whatever serie she's hooked on at the moment and there won't be time to finish his work at home. Youngho is a sucker for Seungwan and can't say a simple _no_.

Yuta's waving goodbye to Youngho and making his way to the elevator, in hopes that it's not too high because he really wants to just get down and out of the building as soon as possible. Obviously, luck is never on Yuta's side and, just as he stops in front of it, the door is closing and he presses the button nonstop but the door never opens for him.

"Ugh, why?" he complains and wants to kick the trash that's right next to the door but holds himself back.

"You could use the stairs, you know?" Donghyuck says from his side, pointing to the door more to the right and Yuta just stares at him in disbelief.

"Do I look like I am keen on doing any of that?" he says, a little angry with the whole situation still. Donghyuck just raises his hands up and looks at Yuta with a 'I was just trying to find a solution' face. "Thanks but no thanks."

"I have stuff to do, so bye," Donghyuck quickly dodges Yuta and runs to the emergency stairs. The sound of the heavy door slamming on its frame echoes for barely a second and Yuta's alone again, since everyone already went down on the elevator without him.

 _And then you call yourself an athlete? Remember how you used to run so many laps around the field when you were in high school and college?_ his brain tells him and Yuta rolls his eyes at himself. No, he's not going to run down a ridiculous amount of stairs - he's on the tenth floor for God's sake - and get all sweaty and disgusting since he walks and doesn't take any means of transportation. He knows that if he gets home like that, he will be shoved inside the bathroom by Taeyong as soon as he sets foot inside their shared apartment.

So as the lazy and totally not sporty person that Yuta has become, he waits until the elevator comes back up - it goes all the way to the last floor until it stops where he is at. At least, it is empty aside from a random lady who's busy on her phone - she's a pretty lady and Yuta only watches her as she keeps texting someone fervently, not even bothering with him. He's not into girls anyway.

Much to Yuta's dismay, it starts raining when he's halfway there and, as the very prevented person he is, he doesn't carry an umbrella around. Avoiding getting all sweaty was all in vain when he enters the apartment drenched from head to toe and Taeyong yells at him when he leaves a wet trail after himself.

"Just," Taeyong pinches the bridge of his nose after handing Yuta a clean pair of clothes. "Just shower quickly, dinner will be ready in a few minutes."

"It's only six though?" Yuta says and gets a door slammed to his face.

"More showering, less talking," Taeyong says from the other side and Yuta does as he says, wondering if he cooked something cool like the previous day.

 

 

 

 

"I forgot to ask Taeyong to pack two lunch boxes," Yuta says, legitimately looking sorry. Youngho only sighs because that's the only thing he can do - and feel slightly bitter but Youngho's not this kind of person. "I promise I'll ask him tonight."

"You could just share your food with me," Youngho suggests, pitifully staring at the bowl of salad in front of himself. Yuta presses his lips until they're a thin line.

"I don't share food, Youngho."

"But I'm your _friend_ ," he says dramatically, even putting a hand on his chest and side eyeing Yuta. "Sharing food is part of the contract when you're friends with someone."

"Who on Earth even said that?" Yuta mumbles as he shoves two spoonfuls of the honey glazed roast pork with apples - Taeyong made sure to explain it all to him and Yuta wondered where Taeyong would get all the money to buy those ingredients. "Don't you even dare touch my food, I'll bring you some tomorrow. I promise," he munches and watches as Youngho sadly pokes the lettuce. "Now, just eat your grass in silence."

"Rude, I don't even know why I'm friends with you," Youngho jabs the leaves on the bowl and puts it all inside his mouth in one go, looking down and seeing that there are only tomatoes left. "Ugh, you know, I like salad and all but it's not enough for me."

"Yeah, you're a monster," Yuta comments and sighs in sadness when he sees that he has eaten everything too fast. "You would need like, five bowls of salad."

"Haha very funny," says Youngho as he picks up the used bowl and walks to the sink, silently washing what he used, Yuta joins him not too long after. "I bet Taeyong's food is amazing," Youngho elbows Yuta as they walk back to their cubicles. "He's always been such a neat freak and perfectionist."

"The perks of living with him is that when I think about cleaning stuff, he's already done it," Yuta says with a fond laugh, glad that he doesn't have to worry about these things nor does he have to feel guilty because Taeyong takes pleasure in doing the housework. "And the food is great, the only bad thing being that his boyfriend comes over often and they're disgusting."

"As if you wouldn't be disgusting if you had one," Youngho rolls his eyes at him and Yuta looks baffled. "But too bad no one wants to actually date you."

"Nice joke," Yuta laughs loudly but nobody spares a glance at him, too used to his noisy self. "I'm sorry to break the news but I'm an awesome boyfriend."

"Said who?" Youngho keeps pestering Yuta and he knows it's a friendly banter but the last time someone was interested in Yuta was two years ago and things didn't exactly go well. "See? You have nothing to use as come back. I have to work now but just call me if you need anything."

In silence, Yuta sits down on his desk and stares at the computer screen. He then looks down to the side and sees a stack of papers. _Boss said you need to call these people and check if everything is going well_ reads the note on top of it all with Sicheng's tiny penmanship. Yuta doesn't have the chance to dwell too much on what Youngho said.

 

 

 

 

A week passes by and Yuta completely forgets about the new intern, even though Donghyuck passes by him quite often, delivering the papers that were requested and sometimes Sicheng's awful coffee that Youngho seems to enjoy.

Well, not completely because Yuta's eyes linger on him when he's around. Taking notice of how his hair looks fluffy and how the bags under his eyes are darker each passing day.

Out of his rare good nature, Yuta decides to go on a small coffee break and visit the copy room. Forgetting that he has nothing that needs to be printed or have a copy made but he's already inside the room and it's too late to go back.

"Oh, hello," Donghyuck greets with a cheerful smile even if he looks tired. "Do you need anything?"

"Not really," _smooth_ , Yuta tells himself, already sensing that he sounds and looks awkward. "Just passing by and saw that you're doing fine by now. Got the hang of it already?"

"It's not as complicated as I thought it'd be," Donghyuck confesses and Yuta nods, not sure of how pressing buttons and changing toners can be considered complicated. "I get to talk to a lot of people and hear them complain about stuff, it's kind of good since I plan on working at a company when I graduate."

"Well, that's good then, maybe they'll even call you back when you graduate," Yuta says with a smile and Donghyuck only gives him half a smile.

"I graduate in like, four years though," Donghyuck makes a face and Yuta stares at him blankly. "If everything goes well, that is."

"Oh wow, you must be young then? Since I'm assuming you entered college right after graduating high school," Yuta tries to keep the conversation going, maybe he'll get to know Donghyuck better and see if he's worth his time or not - because being smart is part of Yuta's basic requirements.

"I'm like, eighteen?" Donghyuck looks confused when talking about his own age and Yuta nods. He's five years younger but Yuta believes that age is just a number anyway, sometimes people are more mature than they should - or for example, in Youngho's case, he's less mature than they should. "You're probably not too older than me."

"I guess not," Yuta shrugs and does not continue that part of the talk going, he decides to ask him about college and learns that Donghyuck's nurturing dark circles and accumulating bad nights of sleep because of papers he needs to write and things he needs to read. He leaves the copy room quite satisfied that he has managed to hold a conversation with someone he barely knows and even got some useful information about Donghyuck.

Yuta concludes that he's worth his time. He just needs to figure out what Donghyuck's into.

 

 

 

 

"I can't believe Taeyong decides to make a non-meat dish right when you bring something to me," Youngho says sadly but eats the spring vegetables stew very happily, pleased with the flavor of the spices. "But I gotta admit this is super good, when is he opening a restaurant?"

"When he comes up with a decent menu," Yuta just repeats what Taeyong told him when he asked that same question. "Hopefully soon, he's been making a bunch of different things every day so I assume it won't take too long."

"Do you think he's going to give us a discount since we're like, family?" Youngho chimes in happily and munches on his lunch, meanwhile Yuta's distracted with the fact that ever since Donghyuck started working in the same floor as him, he has never seen him in the kitchen but now there he is. The boy has his back turned to him, standing in front of the sink but doing nothing at all. It's odd and Yuta wonders if he even brings food for himself. "Dude?" Youngho turns to get a glimpse of what's behind himself and sees what Yuta's been staring at. "Oh."

"No _oh_ s, Seo," Yuta resumes his eating and looks down at the square lunch box, struggling to get the peas with his chopsticks. "I was just looking."

"I didn't even say anything aside from _oh_ and you're already being an asshole," Youngho jokes and Yuta stuffs his mouth so he doesn't have to reply his friend. Instead, Yuta gives him a look, lips pressed tight and a frown. Youngho just laughs.

Yuta eats extra slowly, waiting for Donghyuck to get out of the kitchen so he can go up to the sink and wash his things. He gets distracted with the fact that Taeyong decided to make dessert - lemon mousse - and doesn't even see when Donghyuck leaves, when he's done with everything the place clear for him to do the dishes.

"You know," Youngho says, leaning against the countertop and observing Yuta. "You don't make it too obvious but I noticed how you've been watching the new intern closely."

"No, I'm not," Yuta snorts and soaps the lunch boxes, already used to this one chore since it's only thing he ever does at home. "Maybe I just happen to look at his direction when you're around, maybe the problem is you."

"No need to get all defensive like this. You're always putting the blame on other people," he says with no bite but Yuta still feels a little offended, even though he knows it's true. He's always been hard to admit that things happen because of him sometimes. "But uh, do you even know if he's into guys?"

He doesn't reply, ignores Youngho and focuses on finishing what he's doing at the moment. By the end of the day he concludes that he needs to ask some leading questions and see if it goes anywhere.

 

 

 

 

"Oh thank _God_ ," Yoonoh exclaims when he sees Sicheng carrying the coffee machine back to its proper place next to the water purifier. It's the first time in an entire week that Yuta sees him and he decides to go over to say hi.

"Your little coffee addiction is a little too much sometimes," Yuta jokes when he reaches his friend, Yoonoh is, not surprisingly, the first person to get coffee, lining up behind Sicheng as soon as he's done setting it up.

"I'm thankful you won't come whining at us that you can't work because there's no coffee," Sicheng says with a smile before he's leaving, Yuta wonders how he can say such things with that innocent smile on his face.

"Oh my God, did someone say coffee?" Donghyuck's head appears by the door of the copy room and he rushes to get some as well, seeing that only Yoonoh bothered to get up and grab a cup. He presses the button and waits for the cup to be filled before grabbing it, Yuta wonders if he burns his tongue on the hot liquid because he drinks it without hesitating. "Oh hi, Yuta."

"Sup," he replies cooly and wonders if he looks too full of himself, not even sparing the boy a glance. Yoonoh is too distracted mumbling something to his mug - yes, Yoonoh uses a mug and not a cup like everyone else -, looking like a total creep. "How's work there at the copy room?"

"Nothing exceptional," he shrugs and gulps down all the coffee, holding the cup on his hands and looking around until he sights the trash by the side. "I think I should bring a mug, plastic cups are a waste of money and bad for the environment," Donghyuck says more to himself than anyone else and Yuta nods. "How's work for you?"

"The usual," Yuta shrugs and leans on the wall next to the coffee machine.

"I don't even know what you do, so I have absolutely no idea what _the usual_ means," Donghyuck laughs at his own words. His laughter is funny and Yuta ends up smiling. "Anyway, I have to go back there."

"Me too," Yuta waves and quickly leaves, walking to his cubicle and cursing at himself for not asking anything that would give him answers to what he really wants to know.

He talks on the phone for about one more hour before it's noon, meaning lunch break. Youngho excitedly walks up to him and bugs Yuta, talking about how excited he is to see what Taeyong has prepared this time.

"It's blue cheese quiche," Yuta says when he hands the lunch boxes to Youngho and his friend carefully places it on the table. "I saw him making it last night, dinner was something else and he made less this time, but he's trying out with pastries and alikes. He said he sent two slices for each of us."

"Taeyong is an angel, that's why Mark loves him," Youngho says and Yuta wrinkles his nose, recalling the amount of times he has walked on the two being gross in the living room, giggling at each other and all that coupley shit. "And this is great."

Yuta nods and sits down, looking at the tupperware with lettuce that Seungwan still sends Youngho and laughing. Though, the laughing doesn't last too much when he opens his own lunch box and sees that there's only one slice there.

"Taeyong said two but there's only one on mine," Yuta says bitterly and looks over at Youngho, grimacing when he sees that his has the two slices he mentioned.

"Maybe he forgot," Youngho says and shrugs, Yuta sighs and makes do with just one. "Taeyong is human, different from common belief, he can make mistakes."

Youngho is right, Taeyong is only human.

 

 

 

 

"There is absolutely _no way_ that I didn't put two slices on that lunch box," Taeyong says and Yuta eyes Mark who's stuffing his face with some apple pie Taeyong just took out of the fridge.

"Yeah, man," Mark says, mouth still full. "We all know Tae is human but he's a perfectionist. He probably checks the lunch box at least three times before handing it to you an-"

"Someone stole my food then," Yuta cuts Mark's talking and Taeyong looks over at Mark with a reprimanding look, seeing that he was spitting some food on the clean table. "Oh my God, there's a thief in the office."

"You're not sure, Yuta," Taeyong says and yanks the apple pie from Mark's hands before he eats all of it. "You can't go around accusing people of this and that."

"He's right," Mark butts in again, all smiles and licking his lips. "I th-"

"Go do your homework, Mark," Yuta says rudely and stalks out of the kitchen, Mark exchanges a look with Taeyong and is also kicked out of the room since he's no help there - they all know Mark can't cook to save his own life.

"Something's bothering you," Mark says and sits down on the couch right by Yuta's side. "Tell me, I'm good at listening."

"I'm sorry to break the news, something is always bothering me," Yuta says, still bitter but over more than just his stolen food. Mark looks concerned and Yuta would have made a face at him if he weren't so tired of his boring job and how he barely has time to actually talk to Donghyuck. Maybe Yuta lost his skills of charming boys.

"Tell me about it," Mark says and turns his body to Yuta, his attention on him. "You know I minor in Psychology, right? I could try to help."

"Uh, isn't it like, unethical to treat friends and family?" Yuta eyes him warily.

"Only if I charge you for this talk," Mark laughs and Yuta rolls his eyes. "I'm joking, but anyway, what's bothering you? Taeyong says you've been distracted these past weeks."

"I didn't study my ass off at college to work at the customer service, it's starting to get boring. I mean, I like what I do but it's not properly related to what I wanted to do," Yuta leans against the couch and stares at the ceiling.

"You could just send your resumé to another company and get a better job, you know?" Mark suggests and Yuta sits up straight. "Or not."

"No, I can't abandon Youngho," he says dramatically, looking like he's even desperate. "I just wish I could get a promotion."

"Well, as from what you said, I don't think that's what is actually bothering you recently," Mark points out and Yuta throws his body back to his previous position.

"Well, there's this new intern an-"

Yuta' is interrupted by Mark's snickering. He sits back up and stares at the younger boy with a frown.

"And you have a crush on the new intern? You're worried he's not into boys and you're wasting your time? Added to the fact that someone's stealing your food," Mark says in one go and Yuta just sighs, rubbing his forehead and nodding. "Well, now that's stressing."

"Thank you for stating the obvious, Mr. I Am A Psychology Minor," Yuta huffs and crosses his arms, looking at Mark in hopes that he can actually be of help. "Did you know, the new intern is a Psychology major."

"Yuta, of course I don't know. I have no idea who this new intern is," Mark shakes his head in amusement and Yuta just rolls his eyes at the boy. "What if he studies in the same university as me?"

"That'd be too much of a coincidence, don't you think?" Yuta asks seriously and starts sweating nervously. What if Mark actually knows him? Their ages are close and Seoul might be big but Youngho and Yuta working in the same company after having graduated from the same university was also a coincidence but it happened.

"What's his name?"

"Donghyu-"

"Lee Donghyuck," Mark snaps his fingers and now Yuta's really sweating nervously. "Aha, I got ya. He's in one of my classes. See, coincidences happen more often than we want or expect."

Yuta remains silent and feels like burying himself alive because he's talking about this so called crush with his housemate's boyfriend. Could it get any worse than this?

"And I know it's him because I heard him saying that he's working at some office, starting from before lunch and till afternoon," Mark explains but that doesn't make Yuta feel any less nervous. "It's alright. Donghyuck doesn't really care whether you're a girl or a boy. Do you feel less stressed now that you know that you might have a chance with him?"

"No," Yuta says and laughs, rubbing his hands down on the knees of his jeans and on the verge of grabbing Mark by the shoulders and shaking him for no reason at all when Taeyong enters the living room with two plates in hands.

"I put some whipped cream on top of the apple pie, I think it's better like this," he says and sits down by Mark's other side. "I'll make something for dinner soon."

"Do you need help?" Mark asks, mouth full again.

"No, thanks," Taeyong smiles and then focuses his attention on Yuta. "Now, you'll take a look at the food before I pack it tomorrow and you'll check if someone is actually stealing your food or you're just going insane."

Yuta agrees and eats the pie in silence. At least he has something less to worry about.

 

 

 

 

As expected, Youngho comes running to him when it's noon, a full grown man gushing about what's for lunch. Yuta would have laughed at his face if it weren't actually endearing.

"What's today?" Youngho asks as they pass by the coffee machine and wave at Yoonoh who's filling his mug right there.

"Cauliflower soufflé and he made apple pie too," Yuta explains, nodding to himself and wondering if his meal if whole or not. "I hope nobody stole my food today."

"What are you talking about," Young laughs and accepts what Yuta gives him, their lunch box this time being different since soufflés are delicate little things and Taeyong is very worried about Yuta not getting his food in pieces. The soufflé is not exactly big but it's enough so none of the two will be hungry until it's time to go home, Youngho inhales it and then proceeds to complain that Seungwan is sending him different types of salad. "It's carrot with cucumbers today. I just want to eat the apple pie but she won't be too pleased if I bring the salad back home."

"Just eat it man," Yuta says and turns to his own food, still untouched. He sighs and unwraps it, frowning when the sees that indeed, someone ate some of his food. "Someone stole my food today as well."

"That sucks," Youngho says, already done with the salad even though he was complaining about it five seconds ago and reaching out for the apple pies in the fridge. "They ate your dessert too."

Youngho hands him the small bowl, only half of it still filled. Angrily, Yuta devours what remained of his soufflé and eats the apple pie too, he's still hungry but he's more angry than anything else.

"I will murder whoever took my food," Yuta says and does everything angrily, nearly breaking Taeyong's porcelain bowls.

"Chill man, we can just ask the security if we can check the camera footage," Youngho places a hand on Yuta's shoulder and he calms down just a little. "Let's go now that we have some spare time."

They leave the kitchen and take the elevator to the ground floor, knocking on the door of the security room and greeting the man who works there. Yuta explains their situation and, after the man has laughed at his face, he allows them to take a look at the recordings.

"The kitchen is always empty," the man says and Yuta nods, Youngho keeps watching it with all his attention. "That boys stays there doing nothing sometimes, then he goes to the fridge and then closes it and he just leaves."

Yuta freezes as he easily recognizes it as Donghyuck. After him, nobody else shows up and he sees Youngho and himself chatting as he gets their food in the fridge.

"If anything, he's the food thief," the man says and Youngho thanks him, pushing Yuta out of the security room and guiding him until they're inside the elevator again.

"Are you upset that your crush has been stealing your food?" Youngho asks but Yuta says nothing, only stares at the metal doors. "Don't do anything stupid, it's just food Yuta. You can have a nice talk with him and settle things without getting angry."

"I know, I'm not five," Yuta replies and Youngho says a tired _sure_ before he's exiting the elevator once they reach the tenth floor. As he is alone, Yuta glances at the copy room and sees Donghyuck looking at something on his phone, he somehow notices Yuta's gaze on him and turns just in time, waving once and Yuta feels a little angry at how casual he looks after stealing _his_ food.

Since he's not that childish, Yuta waves back and makes his way to his desk, thinking of ways to catch him in the act.

 

 

 

 

"I hope you will deal with this as the adult that you are, Yuta," Taeyong says the next morning and Yuta gives him a look, showing that Taeyong is being unreasonable if he thinks Yuta's going to do something stupid.

Right when Yuta enters the building, he sees Youngho by the elevator, waiting for him as usual. "I need you to do me a favor today," Yuta whispers as they're riding the elevator to their designated floor, the people around them too busy with their own problems. "When you see Donghyuck leaving the copy room, you will tell me and I'll try to ambush him."

"Isn't talking a better thing?" Youngho says and Yuta shakes his head.

"He can say it wasn't him and the angle of the camera wasn't good enough to show us him actually eating, we only saw his back," Youngho seems to accept the explanation and Yuta's glad he's going to help him.

It's only when the clock hits half past eleven that Youngho sends him a message - _he arrived here half an hour ago and he just left the copy room and entered the kitchen_. Yuta stands up abruptly from his chair but nobody pays attention to him, only keep working as they usually do - Youngho sends him a thumbs up.

Yuta feels stupid for doing this but he also really wants to catch the boy in the act, he's not as angry as he was yesterday but he doesn't want him to keep stealing his food like that.

"Aha!" Yuta shouts when he enters the kitchen, standing by the door and Donghyuck jumps in surprise, dropping the fork he had in hands and closing the fridge quickly. "I can't believe you're eating my food. Oh my God, Donghyuck, do you have a death wish?"

"Eee it's your food?" he says and makes a face, Yuta face palms and nods. "It doesn't have a name in it though."

"I'm the only one who brings food from home!" he shouts and covers his mouth, Donghyuck stares at him wide eyed and picks the fork from the floor. "Everyone else eats at the restaurant on the second floor. And I know you're lying, you saw me and Youngho eating the other day."

"Sorry," Donghyuck puts the fork on the sink and sits down on the table, Yuta wants to shove questions down his throat but he controls himself in the meantime, only sitting down by his side. "I knew it was yours."

"Why the fuck didn't you just ask?" Yuta groans and slams his head down on the table, Donghyuck stares at him, still wide eyed. "Oh and here I thought you were cute an-" Yuta clasps his hands in front of his mouth and Donghyuck opens his mouth to say something.

"Do you want the truth?" Donghyuck asks as though Yuta would ask for a lie. Obviously, Yuta nods at him, his stare sending daggers at Donghyuck's face. "Well, one of them is that I come here straight from classes, I'm broke, starving and tired of eating instant noodles. The other is that I actually wanted an excuse to talk to you and then proceed to say that I'd make up to you by buying you lunch. That backfired when I remembered that I can't pay for my own food and it was too late. You noticed it fast."

"That's the stupidest thing I've heard today," Yuta says, incredulous. He really can't believe his ears - he's lowkey excited too because Donghyuck said he wanted an excuse to talk to him. "Food is important to me, I noticed it on the first day you stole my meal, you brat. But you really could have just asked. Like I told Youngho, my housemate cooks for a lot of people and it's enough to feed around five people when it's really just the two of us, or three when Mark's around. Anyway, I don't think he'd mind packing a third lunch box, honestly. He'd be happy that people like what he cooks."

"I know, I'm sorry. I saw you got actually really angry," Donghyuck says, looking down at his hands. "I heard you yelling from the copy room and all. Wait, did you say you thought I was cute?"

"Nope, I never said that," Yuta frowns, pretending to be outraged at the suggestion but it only makes Donghyuck smile at him.

"Damn, that's why Mark told me I might have a chance with the guy from my internship," Yuta wishes he had a glass of water so he could drink and spit it all on the table. "Yes, I know. I know Mark, he's like, my friend."

"Oh my God, Mark lied to me," Yuta clenches his fists and wants to get mad at the boy but he can't because he knows Mark always has the best of intentions. "I will kill him."

"Oh please, don't. He's my only friend," Donghyuck laughs and reaches out to pat Yuta's hand. "I mean, of course I have Jaemin, Jeno and Renjun but Mark is the only one who's nice to me."

" _Fine_ but just because Taeyong wouldn't like if I killed him," Yuta says, blowing a raspberry and pointing to the fridge.

"What?" Donghyuck asks in confusion.

"Get my food and I'll share with you," Yuta says, a serious expression on his face as he tells himself that he's trying to get on Donghyuck's good side even though it seems that he already likes him.

"I knew you were a nice person," Donghyuck enthusiastically gets the lunch box, a fork and a knife. "Are you going to feed me?"

"Don't you try your luck with me or I'll stab you in the eye," Yuta says and aggressively cuts himself a piece of the chicken. "Get yourself a pair or I'll eat this all by myself."

Those words are all that take Donghyuck to do as said.

When Youngho enters the kitchen during his lunch break, he witnesses something that he wouldn't actually expect. Yuta's cheerfully talking to Donghyuck as the lunch box is empty between the two. It doesn't even look like Yuta was planning his murder less than an hour ago.


End file.
